Some kind of invisible matter is having a gravitational effect on everything. Without the gravity of this dark matter, galaxies would fly apart. Observational data in astroparticle physics indicate that it exists, but so far dark matter hasn’t been directly detected. Given the contours of such an unknown, artists Nadia Lichtig, Josèfa Ntjam, Anne Riley and Jol Thoms reflect on the “how” and “why” of physics and art as diverse and interrelating practices of knowledge. Through open exchange between disciplines, they have created works that are sensory agents between scientific ideas of dark matter and the exploration of that which has never been directly sensed.
Drift: Art and Dark Matter is a residency and exhibition project generated by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute and SNOLAB.
Contributors to the digital extension of Drift: Art and Dark Matter:
Interpretative content: Shannon Brown, Michelle Bunton, Blaire Flynn, Charlotte Gagnier, Zac Kenny, Sunny Kerr, Mark Richardson and Jenna Saffin
Invited Contributors: Emelie Chhangur, Ken Clark, Sebastian De Line, Renée Hložek, Elvira Hufschmid and Katherine McKittrick
Project Coordinator: Danuta Sierhuis
Copy Editor: Shannon Anderson
Photography: Tim Forbes, Zac Kenny, Gerry Kingsley, Paul Litherland and Jol Thoms
Video: Michelle Bunton, Zac Kenny, Sunny Kerr, Gerry Kingsley, Jay Middaugh, Ryan Randall and Dan Thomson
Audio: Michelle Bunton and Danuta Sierhuis
Design: Studio Blackwell (Kelsey Blackwell with Jessica Atkinson and Jonathan Gallivan)
Wordmark: Katharina Tauer and Wolfgang Hückel
Drift: Art and Dark Matter is a residency and exhibition project generated by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute and SNOLAB.
Drift: Art and Dark Matter is organized by and presented at the Agnes Etherington Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON 16 January to 11 April 2021 and subsequently travels to Art Gallery of Sudbury, Sudbury, ON; Art Museum at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON; Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, ON; Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
Artists: Nadia Lichtig, Josèfa Ntjam, Anne Riley and Jol Thoms
Curator: Sunny Kerr with assistance from Michelle Bunton
We extend our thanks to those at each institution who opened their workspaces and shared their knowledge for this project.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario, City of Kingston Arts Fund through the Kingston Arts Council, Stonecroft Foundation for the Arts, Canada First Research Excellence Fund and the George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund at Queen’s University.
